Another high-profile exiled opposition activist goes missing

August 25, Pozirk. Anatol Kotaŭ of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF) stopped replying to calls and messages four days ago after leaving Warsaw for Istanbul, BSSF head Alaksandar Apejkin has said on Facebook.

Kotaŭ’s family members filed a report with the Turkish police and the Polish consulate in Istanbul, he added.

“This is the only reliable information. Any other information is untrue and is speculation,” he stressed amid rumors that Kotaŭ might have been arrested in Turkey.

A former Belarusian diplomat and Alaksandar Łukašenka’s administration official, Kotaŭ left government service in 2020 and supported the postelection protests in Belarus. Later, he joined the BSSF and emigrated to Poland, fearing politically-motivated persecution.

One year ago, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Belarus without being present at the trial on extremism-related charges that Minsk often uses to punish exiled opponents.

Earlier this year, another high-profile Belarusian opposition politician, Anžalika Mielnikava, disappeared after leaving the European Union. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

Mielnikava was accompanied by Belarusian agent during 2023 vacation in Cuba – Polityka